NEW moves are being made against the menace of "leaves on the line" as autumn brings the annual problem to Britain's railways.

NEW moves are being made against the menace of "leaves on the line" as autumn brings the annual problem to Britain's railways.

Network Rail has invested #1.6m in laser technology which, if it passes tests, could be a major new weapon in the fight against the #50m-a-year misery.

The problem - which in the past has been wrongly regarded as something of a joke - creates "black ice" conditions on the rails.

The leaves, when crushed, form a hard coating that causes train wheels to slip and slide.

The mulch can also, in extreme cases, insulate the electric currents passing through the rail which tells signallers where trains are, causing an effect called "ghosting", where trains can disappear from display panels.

This year Network Rail has spent #1.6m on fitting two adapted trains with lasers to blast the contaminating substance off the track.

Robin Gisby, director, Southern, Network Rail, said, "They are being tested this year, in parallel with the other technology at our disposal. But if they work then we might have those two and some more next year."

He said about 50 might eventually be needed to provide national coverage if they were approved for use and they had advantages compared with the existing methods of using water and a sand-based gel called sandite.

He said, "The lasers are completely non-intrusive and remember you are throwing water and sand around near the points in some cases."

Meanwhile, the company is operating its biggest ever "treatment fleet" this year - 62 adapted trains which apply sandite and high-pressure water jets, and 94 teams who walk the line in "hot spot" areas to deal with the problem.

"Although we cannot control the elements, we are constantly striving to find new ways of addressing the leaf-fall problem and this year sees a more focused effort than ever before to help to reduce the problems that autumn brings."

Malcolm Higgins, whose company LaserThor developed the technology, said, "We will be testing the trains with the lasers at 40mph this year - a prototype was tested at 20mph last year. The decision-making process is very rigorous so I think it may be 2005 before we supply them here, if they are approved. I've had a lot of interest from France, Canada and America."